A systematic review of research into aided AAC to increase social-communication functions in children with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions have been shown to be effective in supporting children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to communicate, particularly to request preferred items and activities. The aim of this systematic review was to examine the effectiveness of AAC interventions in supporting children to produce a broader range of communicative functions and determine the extent to which these interventions have been evaluated beyond immediate effectiveness to address maintenance, generalization, and social validity. A systematic search and application of inclusion criteria yielded 30 interventions that focused on communication functions beyond object requests. In many of the studies, flaws detracted from the certainty of evidence, and maintenance, generalization, and/or social validity were not addressed. Further research is needed to evaluate the extent to which AAC interventions can support children with ASD to communicate using a variety of communication functions, as well as to demonstrate sustained, transferable, and meaningful change.

Keywords:

• Augmentative and alternative communication
• autism spectrum disorder
• systematic review
• communication functions
• social validity

Acknowledgements

This systematic review was completed in partial fulfillment of PhD requirements of the first author.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Notes

1 The iPad and iPod Touch are registered trademarks of Apple Inc., 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA, 95014, USA. www.apple.com

Additional information

Funding

David Trembath is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council ECR Fellowship (GNT1071881).